Chapter 152: Progress
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Just as they had devised yesterday, after a class of magic, Frank and the rest quickly delved back into the Dungeon, as tomorrow they would be exploring the Goblin Dungeon instead so they could let the monsters in the Dark Lair Dungeon regenerate a bit.
Orb greeted Frank through telepathy, as she alerted him that the egg he had given to her was soon to hatch, the egg Frank acquired through a Quest reward when he defeated the Giant Scorpion King.
"Master, the Scorpion seems to be soon to hatch!" said Orb.
"I see… How weird, I remember that Ruby and Zhulong hatched immediately after I acquired the eggs. Couldn't I just do the same with this little scorpion from the beginning? …Oh right, I gave it to Orb so she could not feel so lonely… Although I actively talk with her, she is still enclosed within this Dungeon," thought Frank.
"Master?" asked Orb.
"Ah yes, I am glad, Orb. How have been the changes in the underground?" asked Frank.
"Ah, they're going wonderfully! Soon, I will be able to make up enough space for a large house to be possible to be built, there will several separate rooms and other stuff, and even a supply of water from the internal rivers, where fresh fish can be caught," said Orb.
"I see that you're working diligently, thanks a lot for your hard work, but why don't you relax? Come and join us. Now that we are in the dungeon, if you see anyone coming you can hide beneath my shadow," said Frank.
"R-Really, Master? C-Can I join?" asked Orb.
"Sure thing," said Frank gently.
"Yay!"
Orb then molded the ground around her and quickly flew to the surface, startling the party that had already dived deeply into the dungeon!
"Uwah!" cried Hilvera.
"Eh?!" asked Asterion.
"Ah!" cried Annabelle.
"…What is that?! A giant floating sphere?! Is that a monster?! It has a ton of power!" asked Vheslia.
"No, no, I guess we haven't presented her to you, Vheslia, she's Orb, the Dungeon Core of this Dungeon, which is also my dungeon," said Frank.
"N-Nice to meet you," said Orb.
"Oh right, this dungeon is yours… So you got this cute floating orb as your servant to control things around? You're pretty lucky…!" said Vheslia.
"C-Cute?" asked Orb in embarrassment.
"Orb-chan is very cute indeed," said Gwendolyn.
"Yeah, she has a very soothing voice," said Annabelle.
"She's very cute!" said Hilvera.
"I guess?" asked Asterion.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I often want to hug Orb-chan, but she doesn't really like to be hugged," said Cathyl.
"H-Hug? T-That's a bit… too much," said Orb.
"Anyways, are you joining us today, Orb?" asked Gwendolyn.
"Indeed, Master called me here to accompany you, if any normal Adventurer shows up, I can escape into his shadow, so it should be fine…" said Orb.
"I see! Well, it is a pity that you can't level up with us, Orb-chan," said Gwendolyn.
"Ah well, essentially I grow stronger with every monster you kill in here by gathering Divine Power, so as long as I gather enough, I can grow into a Rank 2 Dungeon one day," said Orb accompanying the party.
"Ooh, a Rank 2 Dungeon? Does that mean that you would get to spawn stronger monsters?" wondered Cathyl.
"That's right! I will also increase my efficacy gathering energy and other things, and even get a wider variety of items that can drop, alongside higher chances of them appearing," said Orb.
"I think we are approaching your Rank Up, Orb-Chan, as we had gathered a fair amount of Divine Power and App Points," said Frank.
"Really? I am looking forward to that, Master!" said Orb adorably,
"Oh right, alongside everyone else, I should take these two guys out, it seems that the Grass Snake is finally tamer with me after I leveled up my Druid Skill," said Frank, as he took out of his other hand a three-meter-long snake made entirely out of the grass, alongside a mass of red flesh from his shadow.
"You really got a whole zoo at this point," said Hades.
"Well the more the merrier. More allies or tamed monsters means more strength at the end," said Frank to Hades.
"I suppose to," said Hades.
The party continued exploring the Dungeon as they chatted with Orb, slaying various types of monsters that they found as Frank saved their corpses inside of his Inventory swiftly after their defeat.
After a few hours of monster-slaying, the party decided to take a rest after having slain about 22 monsters, having lunch in a secret room, where not even the Adventurers could find them.
There was a large table where many delicious and freshly cooked food was served, thanks to Frank's Inventory, he was able to store food inside and even their original temperature would remain.
"Nom, nom, nom! Uwah, I've missed Gwen-chan's food for so long…" sighed Vheslia with a pleasing smile.
"She really just eats like she has a void on her stomach…" said Frank.
Vheslia as always gorged the food away in no time, and Frank managed to get a peek at her status, which showed that she indeed had Overeating and her void-related skills, surprising him a bit.
[Name: Vheslia
[Race: Demon.
[Titles: Apprentice.
[Gender: Female
[Mana Core Cultivation: Rank 2 (Upper Stage)
[Job: Dark Attribute Witch.
[Job History: None.
[Level: 8
[Health Points: 96/96
[Mana Points: 782/782
[Strength: 53
[Defense: 61
[Magic: 728
[Resistance: 714
[Agility: 264
[Passive Skills: [Abraddon's Divine Protection: Level -], [Void Stomach: Level -], [Demon Metabolism: Level -], [Mana Core (Black): Level 2], [Mana Control: Level 3], [Increased Magic Circle Creation Speed: Level 3], [Super Mana Recovery: Level 2], [Magic Mass: Level 3]
[Active Skills: [Dark Attribute Magic (Innate): Level 5], [Alchemy: Level 5], [Magic Crafter: Level 3], [Teaching: Level 4], [Overeating: Level 4], [Gust: Level 4], [Shadow Manipulation: Level 3], [Shadow Bullet: Level 3], [Sonar Wave: Level 3]
"Void Stomach? Really? So the System just made up that one mistake she committed into a Skill, I don't know if that ended up enhancing her capabilities or not… She also has Demon Metabolism, which seems to simply enhance her metabolism several times compared to us, and the Overeating Skill, which she can use to store energy to an extent…" thought Frank.
[Void Stomach: Level -/-]
The representation of having a literal void inside of your stomach.
Through the power of such an all-eating force, you can ingest any type of matter, and store excess energy through this Skill.
Mana is also absorbed and can be stored through Magic Mass for greater efficiency.
"It is a crazy power, although seeing how she acquired it, it might not have been intentional…" sighed Frank.
Frank also decided to check Gwendolyn's status, which had been updated a bit since she changed Jobs due to the EXP gained after fighting Zero.
[Name: Gwendolyn.
[Race: Fox-kin Beast-woman.
[Titles: Apprentice.
[Gender: Female
[Mana Core Cultivation: Rank 2 (Middle Stage)
[Job: Fire Storm Witch.
[Job History: Fire Attribute Witch.
[Level: 12
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm[Health Points: 126/126
[Mana Points: 462/462
[Strength: 131
[Defense: 98
[Magic: 563
[Resistance: 714
[Agility: 192
[Passive Skills: [Abraddon's Divine Protection: Level -], [Mana Core (Red): Level 2], [Overprotective Mother: Level 6], [Mana Control: Level 5], [Increased Magic Circle Creation Speed: Level 5], [Increased Mana Recovery: Level 4], [Magic Mass: Level 4], [Concentration: Level 3]
[Active Skills: [Fire Attribute Magic (Innate): Level 5], [Cooking: Level 6], [Housework: Level 5], [Farming: Level 3], [Knife Technique: Level 3], [Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 3], [Spear Technique: Level 2], [Sword Technique: Level 1], [Shield Technique: Level 2], [Gust: Level 6], [Blazing Claws: Level 3], [Sonar Wave: Level 3], [Fiery Steps: Level 3]
"She has improved her Magic a lot since the Job change, and she got some interesting Skills as well. Gwendolyn is trying to not only specialize in magic but also train her physical capabilities, through the combined use of Blazing Claws and Fiery Steps, she is actively getting into more close combat fighting, which is boosted by her Unarmed Fighting Technique of a decent level… Her Gust Skill is already Level 6, showing how much she likes to use it. Well, it is a very convenient and easy-to-use Skill after all," thought Frank.
Alongside Gwendolyn, Annabelle, Cathyl, Asterion, Hilvera, Kamei, and Vheslia, there were also Ruby, Zhulong, Nezhit, Zero, and Ginseng eating their own meals, with the new addition of two tamed creatures.
The mass of flesh that was called 'Primordial Life' or something around those lines by Thineas, and the Plant-type monster created through Mystical Grass by Frank.
"So which names are you planning to give them, nii-sama?" asked Kamei.
"Err… I do not know yet. Though I might just call the snake something simple… Like Viper?" asked Frank.
"Hm, Viper is fine enough… Although the mass of flesh… Well, that one is rather difficult…" muttered Kamei.
"Indeed… How about… Just Mass of Flesh?" wondered Frank.
"Nii-sama, your names are quite crude…" said Kamei.
"Well, it's just a mass of flesh, what do you want from me?" sighed Frank.
"Will it one day turn into the new bodies of your parents?" asked Gwendolyn.
"Well yeah, that's the plan, to train it to grow strong so it can become good bodies for my parents," said Frank.
"I see, maybe just call it like them?" asked Gwendolyn.
"I wouldn't feel comfortable to call them as my parents…" said Frank.
"Well we can just wait for now until you can come out with something better I suppose," said Kamei.
"Wait… Mass of flesh… How about Nyarlathotep?" wondered Frank.
"Nyar… What?" asked Annabelle.
"I like it, she shall be called like that then," said Frank.
"She? Does it even has a gender?" asked Cathyl.
"I don't think so…" said Frank.
"Gooobb…" groaned Nyarlathotep, acknowledging its new name.
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